Divorce Goes Digital as Facebook Used to Serve Divorce Summons

It was only a matter of time. A supreme court judge in Manhattan issued a ruling in favor of a woman who wanted to serve her estranged husband divorce papers via Facebook. I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m thinking she also unfriended him.

Before you think this is going on a public wall, the judge wasn’t that diabolical. Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku will be served with the divorce summons via private Facebook message. His wife, Eleanora Baidoo, will repeat the message once per week, for three consecutive weeks.

The two were married in a civil ceremony in 2009. The marriage quickly fell apart after Blood-Drazku didn’t follow through with a promised traditional Ghanaian wedding. According to Baidoor’s lawyer, the couple never lived together following the wedding.

Facebook Divorce Summons

You may be wondering, why Facebook? Blood-Dzraku has no fixed address on file, and only kept in touch with his wife via phone and Facebook. It’s not his estranged wife looking to embarrass him, it’s literally her only line of communication.

He has also refused to make himself available to be served with divorce papers according to the NY Daily News.

According to the ruling, the post office has no forwarding address for him, no billing address is linked to his prepaid cell phone, and the DMV has no record of him. Someone is living off the grid.

The attorney for Baidoo has confirmed the first message has been sent out, but so far, there has been no response.

Facebook Revenue Opportunity?

With the court ruling, Facebook could open a whole new vertical for advertising. Attorneys. Hey, if it gets the ‘Call Goldberg’ commercials off the air, I can put up with the random promoted post and image ad.

As for Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku? You just became a test case in what could be a shift in how legal documents are delivered. Sorry process servers. Your days could be numbered.